Most days, I go out to the birds. Some days, they come to me.
Today was a case in point. Once the sun came up, I noticed that the tube feeder outside our dining room windows was empty. A Northern cardinal perched there briefly and looked around, seemingly puzzled that his breakfast had not been set before him.
Still in my bathrobe, I slipped on a pair of shoes and headed outside to refill the feeder. When I finished, I looked up and saw a big blob of a bird in the locust tree that anchors the back corner of our lot. The bird was a hawk, and I was pretty sure it was a red-tailed.
I slipped inside, turned on my camera and went out again. The sun was slanting in from the east, so I slowly circled out onto the 12th tee of the golf course that adjoins our property. With the bird getting a bit of sun on its belly-band, the ID was confirmed: red-tailed hawk.
I fired away for a minute or so before bidding the hawk a good day. š¦
The Jersey Birder 